The Lynx defence has been a strong suit — it's usually been the other guys ending with a crooked number in the error column — so you know that means it was due to be their downfall one of these nights. Indianapolis got its third run in their 5-2 victory (boxscore, play-by-play) on a dropped third strike by Jason Jaramillo and its fourth and fifth came in on a Brennan King fielding error in the sixth inning. Both miscues came with the Indianapolis pitcher John Van Benschoten batting, no less. Talk about a kick in the pants for Lynx starter Heath Totten, who didn't pitch all that badly.
Van Benschoten, who lowered his ERA to 1.82 after scattering seven hits across seven innings, was due to be lucky and good vs. the Lynx. Two weeks ago at the Stadium, his bullpen blew the game in the ninth inning and left him with him a no-decision after he chucked three-hit shutout ball for seven-plus innings on night fit for neither beast nor ballplayer. The Fates kind of owed him one.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
PLAYOFFS? PLAYOFFS?! DAY 31
What you might have missed...
Red Wings 2 Ducks 1 (Detroit leads West final 1-0): Get over yourself, Hockeytown. If Ryan Getzlaf doesn't kiss the crossbar during an early Anaheim push -- how in the world did the Red Wings get out of the first up 1-0 again? -- and then take the dumb penalty that led to the decisive power-play goal, Anaheim wins. Waiting for the Ducks to make a mistake won't win out in the long run -- just ask the Vancouver Canucks.
Dominik Hasek was also not the sharpest goalie in the great state of Michigan last night. That would have been the Sudbury Wolves' Sebastian Dahm, who stopped 77 shots (pretty much everyone is adding the coda, "that's right, 77 shots") to keep his team in the hunt against the Michigan-based Plymouth Whalers in Game 5 of the OHL final. The Danish Dominator made more than a save per minute and prolonged the inevitable until Plymouth won at 13:34 at overtime. Game 6, one suspects, will be anticlimactic.
Red Wings 2 Ducks 1 (Detroit leads West final 1-0): Get over yourself, Hockeytown. If Ryan Getzlaf doesn't kiss the crossbar during an early Anaheim push -- how in the world did the Red Wings get out of the first up 1-0 again? -- and then take the dumb penalty that led to the decisive power-play goal, Anaheim wins. Waiting for the Ducks to make a mistake won't win out in the long run -- just ask the Vancouver Canucks.
Dominik Hasek was also not the sharpest goalie in the great state of Michigan last night. That would have been the Sudbury Wolves' Sebastian Dahm, who stopped 77 shots (pretty much everyone is adding the coda, "that's right, 77 shots") to keep his team in the hunt against the Michigan-based Plymouth Whalers in Game 5 of the OHL final. The Danish Dominator made more than a save per minute and prolonged the inevitable until Plymouth won at 13:34 at overtime. Game 6, one suspects, will be anticlimactic.
LYNX: WHAT A RUSH
Right-fielder Jim Rushford throwing out Indy's Einar Diaz trying to score on a sac fly in the second inning when the Lynx were already trailing by four runs seems like the hidden play in the eventual 7-6 comeback victory (boxscore, play-by-play).
None of the 10,404 Indianapolis fans probably made too much of it, since the home side had already had a big inning vs. Ottawa's Zach Segovia (six runs, all earned on 12 hits over six-plus innings). Still, Rushford coming up with a big throw -- it's not for nothing that he came into pro baseball as a left-handed pitcher -- to save one run (at least) did make it easier for the Lynx to rally later vs. the IL West leaders.
Segovia also helped save himself a loss with his batting -- he drew the leadoff walk in the five-run sixth inning that was capped by a two-out, two-run single from (you guessed it) Jim Rushford, who was on base all four times up last night. Strange how it comes together for teams who make little plays to help themselves, even when it doesn't seem too important.
None of the 10,404 Indianapolis fans probably made too much of it, since the home side had already had a big inning vs. Ottawa's Zach Segovia (six runs, all earned on 12 hits over six-plus innings). Still, Rushford coming up with a big throw -- it's not for nothing that he came into pro baseball as a left-handed pitcher -- to save one run (at least) did make it easier for the Lynx to rally later vs. the IL West leaders.
Segovia also helped save himself a loss with his batting -- he drew the leadoff walk in the five-run sixth inning that was capped by a two-out, two-run single from (you guessed it) Jim Rushford, who was on base all four times up last night. Strange how it comes together for teams who make little plays to help themselves, even when it doesn't seem too important.
Friday, May 11, 2007
ALLARD: GAME 1 WAS SAPRYKIN SWEET
Jean-Pierre Allard of Smarting Senators weighs in following the Senators' 5-2 win over the Sabres in Game 1 of the East final last night.
Quick now.
Raise your hands all of those who thought, like this dissident correspondent, that the Sabres would score the go-ahead goal in last night's third period and hang on to take a 1-0 lead in the Eastern Conference final.
Ottawa was all over Buffalo in the first two periods, yet let a 2-0 first period lead evaporate by the middle of the second frame,. By that point there was worrying about trying to beat an increasingly stingy Ryan Miller in nets for the Sabres, so it appeared like the Sens had lost a glorious chance at stealing home-ice advantage in this Stanley Cup semi-final.
Then Miller aped the previous excellent goaltenders that the Senators have easily humbled this spring and just like that, a 2-2 game turned into huge 5-2 win for Ottawa. Ray Emery stood his ground and while only facing 20 shots (against the 34 that the Senators fired at the Buffalo net) and just one or two gate-crashers, he nevertheless made huge saves when it counted.
He kept his team in the game until they found yet another way to score that improbable goal that often makes a difference between victory and defeat.
Oleg Saprykin scored the go-ahead goal, when he tipped Dean McAmmond's pass at 7:41 of the final period. Saprykin has been making Senators GM John Muckler look more and more like a non-idiot savant with every game that he plays while filling in for the concussed Eaves of destruction.
Jason Spezza made amends for letting Sabres defenceman Toni Lydman skate around him for the tying goal in period 2 with a clinching power-play goal after yet another late-game iffy call, this time tripping on Derek Roy.
The difference in the game, other than Miller's shaky third period and the curious non-factor play of Daniel Brière -- any time, Sabres' spin and medical doctors -- was the special teams.
The Senators were 2-for-6 on power plays. The Sabres were blanked on their five chances, and looked totally disorganized, allowing Mike Fisher's short-handed breakaway first-period goal goal shortly after McAmmond had missed on a partial breakaway.
Throw in 19 very uncharacteristic turnovers from Buffalo and you've got a stunning loss for the regular season Eastern Conference champs, who can readily relate this morning to how the Senators felt after Game 1 of last season’s series.
Unless Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff finds a way to impress upon his troops the value of hanging on to the puck and finishing their exciting offensive plays, this Buffalo team may well head out to Ottawa next Monday night down 2-0.
Now if Emery can refrain from going to see the Buffalo Bisons' game tonight at Dunn Tire Park - what if he falls asleep in the stands and then gets hit from an errant foul ball off the bat of a conspiring Bison? -- and instead opt for the safer and more rewarding clubbing activities of Buffalo's invigorating nightlife, residents of the entire National Capital Region, and Don Cherry too, will be sleep much better.
Jean-Pierre's Note: If some readers are wondering how I can somehow still manage to contain my excitement over the Senators' excellent and eye-opening march towards laying claim to Lord Stanley's storied silverware, consider that it wasn't until Allan Stanley won a face-off against Jean Béliveau with less than a minute left in Game 6 of the Cup final on May 2, 1967, enabling captain George Armstrong to score an empty-net goal, that I really started to celebrate the Leafs' fourth Cup of the decade. Until then, I was convinced the Habs would win the Cup, just like the Expo 67 directors, who had to cancel plans they had prematurely commissioned for a special exhibit to display Montreal's Stanley Cup victory at the World's Fair during the Summer Of Love. Oops.
Previous:
Hockey's Bill James Sheds Light On Sens' Deal For "Freakin' Saprykin" (March 4)
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
Quick now.
Raise your hands all of those who thought, like this dissident correspondent, that the Sabres would score the go-ahead goal in last night's third period and hang on to take a 1-0 lead in the Eastern Conference final.
Ottawa was all over Buffalo in the first two periods, yet let a 2-0 first period lead evaporate by the middle of the second frame,. By that point there was worrying about trying to beat an increasingly stingy Ryan Miller in nets for the Sabres, so it appeared like the Sens had lost a glorious chance at stealing home-ice advantage in this Stanley Cup semi-final.
Then Miller aped the previous excellent goaltenders that the Senators have easily humbled this spring and just like that, a 2-2 game turned into huge 5-2 win for Ottawa. Ray Emery stood his ground and while only facing 20 shots (against the 34 that the Senators fired at the Buffalo net) and just one or two gate-crashers, he nevertheless made huge saves when it counted.
He kept his team in the game until they found yet another way to score that improbable goal that often makes a difference between victory and defeat.
Oleg Saprykin scored the go-ahead goal, when he tipped Dean McAmmond's pass at 7:41 of the final period. Saprykin has been making Senators GM John Muckler look more and more like a non-idiot savant with every game that he plays while filling in for the concussed Eaves of destruction.
Jason Spezza made amends for letting Sabres defenceman Toni Lydman skate around him for the tying goal in period 2 with a clinching power-play goal after yet another late-game iffy call, this time tripping on Derek Roy.
The difference in the game, other than Miller's shaky third period and the curious non-factor play of Daniel Brière -- any time, Sabres' spin and medical doctors -- was the special teams.
The Senators were 2-for-6 on power plays. The Sabres were blanked on their five chances, and looked totally disorganized, allowing Mike Fisher's short-handed breakaway first-period goal goal shortly after McAmmond had missed on a partial breakaway.
Throw in 19 very uncharacteristic turnovers from Buffalo and you've got a stunning loss for the regular season Eastern Conference champs, who can readily relate this morning to how the Senators felt after Game 1 of last season’s series.
Unless Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff finds a way to impress upon his troops the value of hanging on to the puck and finishing their exciting offensive plays, this Buffalo team may well head out to Ottawa next Monday night down 2-0.
Now if Emery can refrain from going to see the Buffalo Bisons' game tonight at Dunn Tire Park - what if he falls asleep in the stands and then gets hit from an errant foul ball off the bat of a conspiring Bison? -- and instead opt for the safer and more rewarding clubbing activities of Buffalo's invigorating nightlife, residents of the entire National Capital Region, and Don Cherry too, will be sleep much better.
Jean-Pierre's Note: If some readers are wondering how I can somehow still manage to contain my excitement over the Senators' excellent and eye-opening march towards laying claim to Lord Stanley's storied silverware, consider that it wasn't until Allan Stanley won a face-off against Jean Béliveau with less than a minute left in Game 6 of the Cup final on May 2, 1967, enabling captain George Armstrong to score an empty-net goal, that I really started to celebrate the Leafs' fourth Cup of the decade. Until then, I was convinced the Habs would win the Cup, just like the Expo 67 directors, who had to cancel plans they had prematurely commissioned for a special exhibit to display Montreal's Stanley Cup victory at the World's Fair during the Summer Of Love. Oops.
Previous:
Hockey's Bill James Sheds Light On Sens' Deal For "Freakin' Saprykin" (March 4)
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
ERIK BEDARD: YOU SAW IT, WRITE IT
Erik Bedard, the Orioles pitcher from Eastern Ontario farming country, is no early-season frontrunner for the Baltimore baseball writers' Mr. Congeniality Award.
Oriole Post had this first: At least two writers (here's one, and here's another) who cover the Orioles were unimpressed with the Navan, Ont., native's ongoing reticence with the media. What's funny is that the cultural/language issue isn't even on these blinkered beat guys' radar screens. Bedard is, after all, small-town Franco-Ontarian. So when some squirrelly American sportswriter snaps at him, however good-naturedly, "Come on, Erik, it won't take you long to give us three one-word answers," why should they be surprised that he would put walls up and not feel like talking?
By his own admission, Bedard spoke "horrible English" until he went to the States to play college baseball almost a decade ago. He's had a lot of time to get used to dealing with English-language reporters. Still, if the writers in Baltimore don't project any consideration for the fact that he's dealing with them in his second language and act like it's all about having lengthy quotes to pad out their stories, he's somewhat justified in resenting having to play their game.
Come on, Erik, it won't take you long to give us three one-word answers. Wouldn't you feel a bit used if someone said that to you?
That doesn't make Erik Bedard an arrogant jerk. It makes him a human being.
Thing is, sportswriters generally hang around longer than ballplayers. For his sake, the Orioles -- whose general manager, fellow left-hander Mike Flanagan, was known to give good quotes in his heyday -- should help break the ice forming between Bedard and the writers down there. He has enough to deal with in his career.
Oriole Post had this first: At least two writers (here's one, and here's another) who cover the Orioles were unimpressed with the Navan, Ont., native's ongoing reticence with the media. What's funny is that the cultural/language issue isn't even on these blinkered beat guys' radar screens. Bedard is, after all, small-town Franco-Ontarian. So when some squirrelly American sportswriter snaps at him, however good-naturedly, "Come on, Erik, it won't take you long to give us three one-word answers," why should they be surprised that he would put walls up and not feel like talking?
By his own admission, Bedard spoke "horrible English" until he went to the States to play college baseball almost a decade ago. He's had a lot of time to get used to dealing with English-language reporters. Still, if the writers in Baltimore don't project any consideration for the fact that he's dealing with them in his second language and act like it's all about having lengthy quotes to pad out their stories, he's somewhat justified in resenting having to play their game.
Come on, Erik, it won't take you long to give us three one-word answers. Wouldn't you feel a bit used if someone said that to you?
That doesn't make Erik Bedard an arrogant jerk. It makes him a human being.
Thing is, sportswriters generally hang around longer than ballplayers. For his sake, the Orioles -- whose general manager, fellow left-hander Mike Flanagan, was known to give good quotes in his heyday -- should help break the ice forming between Bedard and the writers down there. He has enough to deal with in his career.
RED SOX-JAYS: BASEBALL THERAPY...
Thursday -- Red Sox 8, Jays 0: It's hard to even find a diversion.When it gets like this -- 7-0 after three innings with Roy Halladay starting; it's like they're trying to get John Gibbons fired, although there's legitimate concern Doc might be hurt -- there's an impulse to search for a solace which is baseball-related. While the Jays were getting curb-stomped, we were periodically checking minor-league scores. at minorleaguebaseball.com. For a couple hours in the middle of this warm May night, one of the site's front page stories was that Jesse Litsch (pictured) and the Jays' Double-A team in New Hampshire had a no-hitter going down in Bowie, Md., vs. the Baysox, Baltimore's farm club.
A no-hitter is still a no-hitter. Who cares if it's the minors and the 22-year-old Litsch is not a lights-out, can't-miss prospect? (He's about the seventh-best prospect in the Jays chain.)
Litsch left the game with the no-hitter intact after seven innings and an even 100 pitches (he walked one and made an error on a bunt). Six outs to go. Relievers Jesse Carlton and Tracy Thorpe got through the eighth. Three outs to go. Maybe, just maybe.
A few minutes later, another quick, hope-against-hope refresh of the page, and damn -- Bowie's Oscar Salazar had broken up the no-hitter with two out in the ninth inning. So it goes. How many times did that happen to Dave Stieb back in the day?
It's no sign of character to be a mope when a favourite team is losing. Life is too short, but only a couple wins are going to do it. Take earlier yesterday. The Yankees got thumped 14-2 by Texas, which is normally cause for great schadenfreude. The first clip on the 6:30 Sportscentre recap was Derek Jeter getting jammed by the second-base ump, who called him out on a steal attempt when he looked like The Captain might have been safe. Second clip: Bobby Abreu lost his bearings on an everyday deep fly ball to right -- in his home park no less -- turning an out into an extra-base hit. Third clip: The Yankees screwed up a rundown between third and home plate and Texas' Gerald Laird, who's a freakin' catcher, outrunned Alex Rodriguez to home, with his shoe hitting A-Rod right in his pretty face, literally to boot.
Last clip: Miguel Cairo, subbing in left field -- which is hilarious enough -- loses a fly ball, which bounces over the fence for an automatic double. It was like the elitist Yankees had been replaced by the Hackensack Bulls and no, nothing. Not right now.
Hey, look on the bright side. When Troy Glaus was picked off first base with the bases loaded and one out in the first inning last night, it meant the Jays managed to stay out of the double play.
DOC TOO: A couple of commenters at The Tao of Stieb wondered if there might be a medical reason for Halladay getting jocked two starts in a row, which almost never happens. The temptation is to believe that Doc is just having sympathy pains since everyone else on the team is on the disabled list. If he is hurt, then that last joke was in poor taste, instead of being just poor.
GIBBONS WATCH: Economics is going to force Paul Godfrey's hand. A crowd of 21,784 for Wednesday's game vs. the Red Sox with Dice-K starting?
With the exception of Toronto FC, the Jays have the GTA to themselves and can't get 25,000 people out for a rival team with fans who travel everywhere. The lords of baseball already put the screws to the Jays with these midweek series vs. the Evil Empires, but that attendance figure is sad. If it takes jettisoning John Gibbons to convince some people to turn out in what's fast becoming a lost season, then why hesitate? It's obvious a shakeup has to come, and Gibbons will land on his feet. He's in the baseball social club, so someone will give him a job.
It's the way the Jays are just somnabulating through at-bats and defensive innings -- that's a pretentious word for lollygagging -- which is really galling to a fan. Eventually, players will buy in when they believe they can win, and right now, not enough players are conveying that they care. That's on Gibbons.
The Jays are better than this, but like Tony Gwynn said one season when the Padres were going bullflop, winning just 12 of their first 54 games (imagine that), "We know we're better than this, but we just can't prove it." Eventually the Jays get good pitching, the hitting will be there and the wins will come. Teams win and then pull together, not the other away around.
Wednesday -- Red Sox 9, Jays 3: Hey, at least Toronto has defeated one thing -- any attempt at serious analysis.
There's no hair-splitting, no what-might-have-been, just grasping for tiny straws -- like Alex Rios going 4-for-4 out of the leadoff spot (yet failing to score a run) and Lyle Overbay hitting two homers (both with no one on base). The players are clearly frustrated and ready to snap. Vernon Wells twice did the bat-over-his-head routine after popping up, and did you see Scott Downs' reaction after serving up that home run to ManRam?
Tuesday, Red Sox 9, Jays 2: Josh Beckett, who had an easy time running his record to 7-0, does bear a vague resemblance to Eddie Izzard (right photo). Age Beckett a few years, put some eyeliner on him, and bam. No analysis need be done here. There isn't a major-league team playing worse these days. Don't bring up the Washington Nationals -- we said major-league teams.
(UPDATE: Yes, Gibby is kind of like Boomhauer from King of the Hill. Good call. Via Deadspin.)
Well, that didn't happen. The ironically named Victor Zambrano happened (he's on the disabled list), and it was another long night. Again, these days, saying the Jays are due is liking say the Washington Generals are due, or that Charlie Brown is due to kick the damn football.
At least Wells is showing a sense of humour, which is almost the sole proof there's some life in the Jays.
(* Hat tip to anyone who gets the reference.)
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
LYNX: RELIEVER'S VALUE FOUND IN TRANSLATION
It would have been nice for the Lynx to pull out a series win in Louisville, where Bats lefty and one-time first-round draft choice Phil Dumatrait beat them 2-1 last night (boxscore, play-by-play), allowing no earned runs over six innings.
Righty reliever Jason Anderson allowed the game-winning hit to the Bats' Jeff Bannon in the sixth inning, sticking J.D. Durbin with the loss. It happens. Anderson should prove a good pickup if he's healthy and is with Ottawa for a prolonged stretch. The 3.29 ERA he had last year with Portland in the Pacific Coast League should translate very well to the International League.
More runs are scored in the PCL. Prior to last night's game, the team ERAs for that league range from 3.32 to 5.34, compared to 2.59-4.28 in the IL, despite the fact pitchers bat more often in the PCL since 11 of the 16 teams are National League affiliates (and don't use the DH when they play each other). A 3.29 ERA out there probably translates into the high 2.00s in the IL, especially since Lynx Stadium seems to hold down run scoring.
The Lynx (16-14) face IL West-leading Indianapolis in a four-game set this weekend. By the way, there'll be two Buffalo-Ottawa series next week -- the Bisons are coming to town.
Righty reliever Jason Anderson allowed the game-winning hit to the Bats' Jeff Bannon in the sixth inning, sticking J.D. Durbin with the loss. It happens. Anderson should prove a good pickup if he's healthy and is with Ottawa for a prolonged stretch. The 3.29 ERA he had last year with Portland in the Pacific Coast League should translate very well to the International League.
More runs are scored in the PCL. Prior to last night's game, the team ERAs for that league range from 3.32 to 5.34, compared to 2.59-4.28 in the IL, despite the fact pitchers bat more often in the PCL since 11 of the 16 teams are National League affiliates (and don't use the DH when they play each other). A 3.29 ERA out there probably translates into the high 2.00s in the IL, especially since Lynx Stadium seems to hold down run scoring.
The Lynx (16-14) face IL West-leading Indianapolis in a four-game set this weekend. By the way, there'll be two Buffalo-Ottawa series next week -- the Bisons are coming to town.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
BLUE JAYS: BYE-BYE, B.J.
Now that B.J. Ryan has had the dreaded Tommy John surgery and is gone for the year, Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi's obfuscation over Ryan's condition really looks bush-league.
Fair or not, it's more ammo for the people who want J.P. and manager John Gibbons out of Toronto. No one will know if the Jays manipulated Ryan's elbow toward ruin, but it's a grey area that can easily be cast in black and white.
The gamut of injuries isn't Ricciardi's fault. The set of challenges and problems the organization go way beyond the GM's suite. That's just way too complicated to explain in one blog post, one newspaper column or maybe even a book. Besides, every plot needs a villain.
Related:
And now, he's no longer with us (The Tao of Stieb)
Fair or not, it's more ammo for the people who want J.P. and manager John Gibbons out of Toronto. No one will know if the Jays manipulated Ryan's elbow toward ruin, but it's a grey area that can easily be cast in black and white.
The gamut of injuries isn't Ricciardi's fault. The set of challenges and problems the organization go way beyond the GM's suite. That's just way too complicated to explain in one blog post, one newspaper column or maybe even a book. Besides, every plot needs a villain.
Related:
And now, he's no longer with us (The Tao of Stieb)
CIS CORNER: BOWER MIGHT LEAVE U OF O
It would be a real shame for the local sports scene if John Bower, the hard-working public affairs coordinator for sports at the University of Ottawa, does move on effective July 31.
Regardless of what tweaks the U of O makes with its P.R. wing or what job titles they come up with, John would not be easily replaced. His position is being replaced with one "which will be a junior position to the one that I currently have," as he explained in a press release sent out this afternoon.
The loss of Bower comes at a critical time for the profile of Gee-Gees varsity athletics. It's a constant battle in this city for the Ravens and Gee-Gees to get media attention in Senators-mad Ottawa. Carleton will have a leg up over the next three years as it hosts the CIS men's basketball championship and debuts men's hockey, so the Gee-Gees need someone doing the legwork to draw attention to their athletes and teams.
When we got our act together and decided to seek out press credentials for Out of Left Field for various Ottawa-area teams, John was the first person we approached. He has been unfailingly accommodating, even though it was just a random guy with a largely unread blog. His openness to new media — blogs and webcasts — will hopefully be a lasting legacy to the Gee-Gees and CIS sports in its endless quest to get the media coverage it deserves.
That sort of consideration and kindness John has shown us sticks with a person. It's regrettable to hear that John might be departing, but any sports organization would be grateful to have him.
(Apologies for an editing error that occurred in the original version of this post. Silly cut-and-paste.)
Regardless of what tweaks the U of O makes with its P.R. wing or what job titles they come up with, John would not be easily replaced. His position is being replaced with one "which will be a junior position to the one that I currently have," as he explained in a press release sent out this afternoon.
The loss of Bower comes at a critical time for the profile of Gee-Gees varsity athletics. It's a constant battle in this city for the Ravens and Gee-Gees to get media attention in Senators-mad Ottawa. Carleton will have a leg up over the next three years as it hosts the CIS men's basketball championship and debuts men's hockey, so the Gee-Gees need someone doing the legwork to draw attention to their athletes and teams.
When we got our act together and decided to seek out press credentials for Out of Left Field for various Ottawa-area teams, John was the first person we approached. He has been unfailingly accommodating, even though it was just a random guy with a largely unread blog. His openness to new media — blogs and webcasts — will hopefully be a lasting legacy to the Gee-Gees and CIS sports in its endless quest to get the media coverage it deserves.
That sort of consideration and kindness John has shown us sticks with a person. It's regrettable to hear that John might be departing, but any sports organization would be grateful to have him.
(Apologies for an editing error that occurred in the original version of this post. Silly cut-and-paste.)
SAGER IS FOOSING JEALOUSLY...
Co-blogger Neil Acharya has been recognized at Facebook with Neil Acharya's Foos Skills Fan Club. The fear is this might tempt Neil to join Facebook, but he's made of stronger stuff.
JAYS: 8 DAYS IN MAY...
Checking in as the Jays' long slide continues:
- In Cool Standings' projections, the Jays average out to 76.2 wins -- bad, but more than the Orioles and Rays. (Of course, that's not where the bar is set.) So that third-place slot the Jays have eased into seven out of the last nine years is still available.
The Jays' run differential (minus-12) is poor, but still comparable to that of the Seattle Mariners, who are somehow a game above .500. It's not that far from that of Arizona, who's also above .500 and just two games out in the tight (read: mediocre as ever) NL West. And yes, this feels like a program director at a radio station that's just fallen from No. 2 to No. 5 in the local ratings book trying to tell his boss how many stations would love to be No. 5.
Factor in the Jays getting their injured players back, the position players returning to their normal mean and a possible bump from John Gibbons getting fired. The Jays can still finish above .500, albeit barely above with 82 or 83 wins.
There's the rub, though. Expectations were so high that kind of finish, which seems optimistic today, would still be viewed as an abject failure. - Must-read The Tao of Stieb has eight simple ways the Jays could right matters, all of which are practical and within the team's means.
- The Facebook group Fire J.P. Ricciardi has jumped from 16 members to 57 over the past 24 hours. Full disclosure: The group's admin, Cory Smith, is a friend of the blog.
- In the it's-been-worse department, The 700 Level recalls the blowout in the forgettable season of 2004 when Frank Menechino was called on to pitch. We call that game well. We were in a new town, on a Saturday, no money, no friends, and we drove around aimlessly waiting for that game to end. Who knows why. The reasons still aren't apparent.
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
CIS CORNER: GOYETTE GOES TO CALGARY
Long-time national team player Danielle Goyette, 41, who was Canada's has signed on to coach the Calgary Dinos start-up women's hockey program. Globesports.com's Allan Maki noted the new team at the U of Calgary "will work in conjunction with the Olympic Oval, home to the Oval X-treme, which have won four senior national championships."
Hearing Calgary is commiting to CIS women's hockey is welcome news to any team who's gone up against the Alberta Pandas at the national championship over the past few years. It won't happen overnight, but a team training out of the Oval in a big centre for the national women's team program could eventually threaten the Pandas' puck dominance.
Another women's hockey note: The IIHF will hold its first Under-18 women's world tournament in Canada in January 2008. It's an eight-team event with the U.S., Sweden, Finland, Germany, Switzerland, Russia and the Czech Republic also sending teams.
Hearing Calgary is commiting to CIS women's hockey is welcome news to any team who's gone up against the Alberta Pandas at the national championship over the past few years. It won't happen overnight, but a team training out of the Oval in a big centre for the national women's team program could eventually threaten the Pandas' puck dominance.
Another women's hockey note: The IIHF will hold its first Under-18 women's world tournament in Canada in January 2008. It's an eight-team event with the U.S., Sweden, Finland, Germany, Switzerland, Russia and the Czech Republic also sending teams.
HIP TO SUNDIN'S SITUATION
Consider this the greatest sports shocker to happen in Toronto since the last time the Hamilton Tiger-Cats beat the Argos at the Rogers Centre: Mats Sundin doesn't need hip surgery, contrary to what we all read. That means Maple Leafs GM John Ferguson Jr. was right about something.
For some of the haters, this challenges their general point of view toward, well, everything.
For some of the haters, this challenges their general point of view toward, well, everything.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
THE 'SHWA IS GETTIN' UPSET!
While, here's a mild upset -- Kitchener has been awarded the 2008 Memorial Cup over Oshawa.
Saginaw too was passed over. Stephen Colbert, please protest this injustice done to your hoser friends in The 'Shwa.
Saginaw too was passed over. Stephen Colbert, please protest this injustice done to your hoser friends in The 'Shwa.
WHERE IS IT WRITTEN THAT IF YOU DON'T GET RESULTS FOR SIX YEARS, YOU FIRE SOMEBODY?
Well, it was a blog whose time has come:
http://firegibbons.blogspot.com
Nice pickup by the gods at The Tao of Stieb, who get up earlier in the day and probably remember to pay their rent on time. And hey, we're already identified as a "friend in misery." Nice!
Not that Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi has any reason to feel jealous -- there's a Facebook group created specifically for him. J.P.'s track record is terrible, although Moneyball is hardly dead. Life is not that cut-and-dried, people.
http://firegibbons.blogspot.com
Nice pickup by the gods at The Tao of Stieb, who get up earlier in the day and probably remember to pay their rent on time. And hey, we're already identified as a "friend in misery." Nice!
Not that Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi has any reason to feel jealous -- there's a Facebook group created specifically for him. J.P.'s track record is terrible, although Moneyball is hardly dead. Life is not that cut-and-dried, people.
LYNX: BRIAN MAZONE, WE HARDLY KNEW YE
Lynx manager John Russell's style of sticking with his starter in tight spots paid off in today's 5-2 win (boxscore, play-by-play) in Louisville.
Starter Matt Childers, up 1-0, was labouring in the Bats sixth when Canada's own Joey Votto ripped his 103rd pitch of the day to right field for a double, putting runners on second and third with one out. Chris Dickerson worked a seven-pitch walk -- the second free pass of the inning issued on a 3-2 count -- to load the bases, but Childers was left in the game and struck out the next two hitters.
A manager might be more apt to get away with that in Triple-A, where fewer hitters have that home-run stroke and (many suspect, at least) they don't use the rabbit ball like in the majors. Either way, Russell looked smart for standing by Childers after the Lynx tacked on three runs in the seventh. It would be nice to see more managers not be so quick with the hook in those sixth- or seventh-inning situations.
Childers, who's now 4-1 with a 2.31 ERA (he also set up the game's first run with a two-out single) is probably the de facto veteran ace since left-hander Brian Mazone, the reigning International League ERA champ, has decided to try his luck in Korea.
Wouldn't you know it given the run of luck around these parts, righty reliever John Ennis, who got the win last night, is on the DL with a groin injury. To replace Mazone, the Lynx have added Heath Totten, who was 2-4 at Double-A Reading.
Also of note today: Lou Collier has had six hits and five RBI batting out of the 3-hole in the past two games, while Danny Sandoval's ninth-inning homer marked the first time the Lynx have gone yard in back-to-back games. And talk about a guy having a rough day: Louisville's Mike Edwards took the collar (0-for-5) and killed two rallies by striking out with runners on the corners in the fifth and hitting into a double play with the bases loaded vs. Kane Davis (who got his first save of '07) in the eighth.
One last thing: For those of you who enjoy Carl Kiiffner's Ottawa Lynx Blog, he'll soon be moving to http://ottawalynxblog.com/. The transition is underway.
Starter Matt Childers, up 1-0, was labouring in the Bats sixth when Canada's own Joey Votto ripped his 103rd pitch of the day to right field for a double, putting runners on second and third with one out. Chris Dickerson worked a seven-pitch walk -- the second free pass of the inning issued on a 3-2 count -- to load the bases, but Childers was left in the game and struck out the next two hitters.
A manager might be more apt to get away with that in Triple-A, where fewer hitters have that home-run stroke and (many suspect, at least) they don't use the rabbit ball like in the majors. Either way, Russell looked smart for standing by Childers after the Lynx tacked on three runs in the seventh. It would be nice to see more managers not be so quick with the hook in those sixth- or seventh-inning situations.
Childers, who's now 4-1 with a 2.31 ERA (he also set up the game's first run with a two-out single) is probably the de facto veteran ace since left-hander Brian Mazone, the reigning International League ERA champ, has decided to try his luck in Korea.
Wouldn't you know it given the run of luck around these parts, righty reliever John Ennis, who got the win last night, is on the DL with a groin injury. To replace Mazone, the Lynx have added Heath Totten, who was 2-4 at Double-A Reading.
Also of note today: Lou Collier has had six hits and five RBI batting out of the 3-hole in the past two games, while Danny Sandoval's ninth-inning homer marked the first time the Lynx have gone yard in back-to-back games. And talk about a guy having a rough day: Louisville's Mike Edwards took the collar (0-for-5) and killed two rallies by striking out with runners on the corners in the fifth and hitting into a double play with the bases loaded vs. Kane Davis (who got his first save of '07) in the eighth.
One last thing: For those of you who enjoy Carl Kiiffner's Ottawa Lynx Blog, he'll soon be moving to http://ottawalynxblog.com/. The transition is underway.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
LET YOUR LYNX FLOW...
The Lynx finally got their deuxieme circuit du comp of the season tonight when Lou Collier hit a three-run dinger in the early stages of an eventual 10-4 win (boxscore, play-by-play) in Louisville. It's funny how the hits and runs can eventually pile up when you have a good team that plays sound baseball, unlike that other professional baseball team in Ontario.
That puts them only 10 behind Indianapolis for the second-lowest home run total in the International League, but enough about that. Relievers John Ennis and Joe Bisenius have been on a mini-roll in middle relief. Ennis lowered his early-season ERA to 0.59 and picked up the win in relief of a so-so J.A. Happ. Meantime, Bisenius did not allow a hit across the seventh and eighth innings when it was a one-run game. As noted before, if the Lynx can ever start consistently hitting the odd ball off or over the fences, they'll be a very dangerous ballclub and well worth watching here in Ottawa.
That puts them only 10 behind Indianapolis for the second-lowest home run total in the International League, but enough about that. Relievers John Ennis and Joe Bisenius have been on a mini-roll in middle relief. Ennis lowered his early-season ERA to 0.59 and picked up the win in relief of a so-so J.A. Happ. Meantime, Bisenius did not allow a hit across the seventh and eighth innings when it was a one-run game. As noted before, if the Lynx can ever start consistently hitting the odd ball off or over the fences, they'll be a very dangerous ballclub and well worth watching here in Ottawa.
CIS CORNER: NOISE ON THE WESTERN FRONT
Big doings in the "arms race" that's taking place across the CIS: Western has announced a significant cash investment in its varsity sports program.
The boost includes $700,000 for scholarships for student-athletes (which include an academic component), about half of which is coming from alumni giving. Reading between the lines, this has a lot to do with football, namely the nagging fact that the Mustangs, a one-time lodestar of Canadian university football, have yet to win a conference championship this decade (or, cough, beat the Queen's Golden Gaels on a consistent basis).
This touches on the argument for creating a super-conference in Eastern Canada for university football. Let's face it, many alumni and students do take university sports seriously and want to watch our own compete on a bigger stage instead of peeping in on the oversized (and overrated) NCAA spectacle south of the border. At the same time, not every CIS member school has Western's alumni base or a student body of 35,000, so you can see what this means for the already dodgy competitive balance in football.
A lot of schools want to NCAA-ify their programs (if not actually join the NCAA). There are enough ripples in the water -- seeing teams announce incoming freshmen in April and May, this school or that school announcing the construction of a Cadillac sports complex -- to suggest there has been a sea change over the past five years. If more money is kicking around the CIS (still a fraction of the mazuma kicking around in the NCAA), it threatens the legitimacy of competition and the number of athletic opportunities available for all students. If schools such as Western, which has 35,000 students, have all this money sunk into sports -- not that there's anything wrong with that -- everyone else either has to follow suit or risk falling to the level of the U of T football team.
That's part of why the buzzword right now with sports-admin types in Canada is "optimization" -- pouring resources into a handful of sports where a school traditionally excels. It's paid off for Carleton with five CIS men's basketball titles in a row, but a few weeks ago the school cut eight sports (and subsequently reinstated all but one after a huge outcry).
How does it help the greater good if fewer students are competing in varsity sports?
Canada could stand to adopt many elements of the NCAA -- the level of public interest, the media coverage, better pay for coaches. It has to be done carefully, and with the greater good in mind.
It should not lead to schools feeling they can't compete in certain sports and giving up, or sending out dedicated student-athletes with their legs essentially tied just so the school can say it has a team. Hearing that Western increasing its spending on sports is positive for the CIS, but it should be taken with some reservation. What's good for any one school is not good for everyone.
(Of course, Western would think it was doing pretty well if it could beat Queen's in football at least half the time. Just kidding, but not really.)
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
The boost includes $700,000 for scholarships for student-athletes (which include an academic component), about half of which is coming from alumni giving. Reading between the lines, this has a lot to do with football, namely the nagging fact that the Mustangs, a one-time lodestar of Canadian university football, have yet to win a conference championship this decade (or, cough, beat the Queen's Golden Gaels on a consistent basis).
This touches on the argument for creating a super-conference in Eastern Canada for university football. Let's face it, many alumni and students do take university sports seriously and want to watch our own compete on a bigger stage instead of peeping in on the oversized (and overrated) NCAA spectacle south of the border. At the same time, not every CIS member school has Western's alumni base or a student body of 35,000, so you can see what this means for the already dodgy competitive balance in football.
A lot of schools want to NCAA-ify their programs (if not actually join the NCAA). There are enough ripples in the water -- seeing teams announce incoming freshmen in April and May, this school or that school announcing the construction of a Cadillac sports complex -- to suggest there has been a sea change over the past five years. If more money is kicking around the CIS (still a fraction of the mazuma kicking around in the NCAA), it threatens the legitimacy of competition and the number of athletic opportunities available for all students. If schools such as Western, which has 35,000 students, have all this money sunk into sports -- not that there's anything wrong with that -- everyone else either has to follow suit or risk falling to the level of the U of T football team.
That's part of why the buzzword right now with sports-admin types in Canada is "optimization" -- pouring resources into a handful of sports where a school traditionally excels. It's paid off for Carleton with five CIS men's basketball titles in a row, but a few weeks ago the school cut eight sports (and subsequently reinstated all but one after a huge outcry).
How does it help the greater good if fewer students are competing in varsity sports?
Canada could stand to adopt many elements of the NCAA -- the level of public interest, the media coverage, better pay for coaches. It has to be done carefully, and with the greater good in mind.
It should not lead to schools feeling they can't compete in certain sports and giving up, or sending out dedicated student-athletes with their legs essentially tied just so the school can say it has a team. Hearing that Western increasing its spending on sports is positive for the CIS, but it should be taken with some reservation. What's good for any one school is not good for everyone.
(Of course, Western would think it was doing pretty well if it could beat Queen's in football at least half the time. Just kidding, but not really.)
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
DAVID FROST, STILL IN THE KINGSTON AREA
National Post writer Joe O'Connor has caught up with the one and only David Frost. (Via Mirtle.)
It's timely — one-time Brampton Boy Sheldon Keefe is piloting the Pembroke Lumber Kings in the RBC Royal Bank Cup national Junior A championship this week in Prince George, B.C.
And no, Frost still hasn't made good on his vow to leave the Kingston area.
It's timely — one-time Brampton Boy Sheldon Keefe is piloting the Pembroke Lumber Kings in the RBC Royal Bank Cup national Junior A championship this week in Prince George, B.C.
And no, Frost still hasn't made good on his vow to leave the Kingston area.
THEY'RE CALLING HOAX...
The Big Lead has their doubts over L.A. Times scribe Mike Penner's sex transition to Christine Daniels.
ALLARD: TUESDAYS WITH EDNA; LONGING FOR HODGE AT THE LODGE
Jean-Pierre Allard of Smarting Senators regularly channels his columns through alter ego Edna Babblecock, who is a composite of many members -- not all, mind you -- of the Sens Army.
Boy, let me tell you there's some mad scramble at the Lodge these days.
And it's got nothing to do with Darquise insisting on listening to Dean "SCRAMBLE" Brown and sidekick superfan Gord Wilson describing the Sennies games instead of Bob "Ole King" Cole and Greg S-Mitten on the state-sponsored CBC TV. That is when they even bother airing their COTU-infested broadcast for a full 60 minutes.
No, it's because Hortense and I just can't figure out the recent segments of Oaf's Corner during the first intermission. Now, even though we both lost our husbands in the M.A.S.H. war (or was it the Nixon conflict with the Kennedys?), and notwithstanding the fact that we're also not getting any younger, we can't remember exactly when it was that the in-between period segment of Hockey Night In Canada became a showcase for the Canadian Armed Forces. Like, what the fuddle duddle does that have anything to do with heavily armed bodies dropping like flies in the eternal pursuit of finding a hole in the enemy line?
Why is it a forum for Don Cherry to provide instant relief to all of Canada by making it sound that it's OK to be a racist and a bigot, as long as you're behind Harper's Army? We sure as heck never had to put up with such nonsense when Dave Hodge was the host of the show or even when Ward Cornell moderated the old Stovepipe League.
I'm afraid I've fallen off the wagon again and for this I have no one to blame but all those Senators' diehard fans -- and the ones that wear their sweaters too. To hear them speak on radio and at Mass, you'd think Ottawa has already won the Cup, when they're only halfway on their march toward merely getting their eyes on the prize.
While they only needed 10 easy games in stopping the March of the Baby Penguins and then doing some Clean Dancing With the Devilled Eggs, the Buffalo Herd is next on their battlefront and I have this huge fear Ottawa is about to find out that when you live by the sword, you also die by the sword. Or in this case, the Sabre.
Besides, I'm 1-1 in predictions so far, so I'm due to be right again, even if the Senators sure look for real this spring, especially with the way they swamped Jersey.
WASTIN' AWAY AGAIN IN JASON POMINVILLE
What worries me more today is the mindset of captain Daniel Alfredsson. I mean, this guy carried the entire team on his back the last two series and I can't thank him enough, nor can I shower him with more compliments than I already have without sounding like the Ottawa Citizen's giddy cheerleaders.
But if I read correctly what I just read today, Captain Alfie is still defending himself for his mistake last May 20 when he let a freaking rookie waltz around him and score the easiest, short-handed, series-clinching overtime goal that everyone at the Lodge has ever seen.
OK, so maybe the dumb local scribes keep asking the same dumb question but geez, even the dumbest IKEA cashier has enough smarts to give us a different story every time we politely inquire about the fat contents in them Swedish meatballs.
Get this, Alfie said he still wouldn't change a thing in his season-ending decision, because he much preferred risking being sent to the golf courses early than taking a hooking penalty which, by the way, would have only evened up the sides at that time.
Well, to a tee, we'd sleep much better knowing that he will whack wicked good any Sabres forward over the head if facing a similar situation in the next two weeks.
Hortense nearly made me spill my porridge when she yelled to all that if she hears that horsechips story one more time, she's gonna put up for sale all of her 73 Drew Stafford mint rookie cards on the eBay.
I agree and I also want to chime in and say that just because Jason Spezza took a faceoff late in a playoff game against the Penguins and won, and then followed that with a few more games in which he actually went back in his zone to see if his pal Ray Emery needed a wake-up call, doesn't automatically make him the next Bob Gainey.
Sure, the big pussycat is getting much better at playing without the puck but let's see how he does when the Alphabet Guys named Afinogenov, Brière, Connolly, Drury, Gaustad, Hecht, Kotalik, Pominville, Roy, Stafford, Vanek and Zubrus start tripping the puck fantastic.
And another thing we can't figure out.
While it would be perfectly acceptable for us ladies to be totally in love with the young and perpetually-smiling hunk, we're thinking it's rather odd to see grown reporters have such a giant man crush on a young man who was just a boy three years ago when Jack Martin was opening the bench door at the Corel Centre.
You'd think reading all the quotes that the beat writers get from Spezza every day that his team is called the Ottawa Spezzenators.
Finally, as if we needed another controversy, Jeanne D'Arc in room 3B was overheard saying she sure hopes that the Senators' fans don't start booing the Sabres' top player and Gatineau native Daniel Brière.
I mean, it's one thing to boo a kid that needs his mouth washed with Palmolive like the star of NBC's The Crosby Show, but it would be totally disgraceful to boo a father of four young kids, who was born here and would have given both his hands to play for John Muckler after Wayne Gretzky decided that Brière was too small for the pre-lockout days of the NHL, unless "99 flavours of whine" thought his last name sounded more like a curling term.
The fans have the right to do what they want, especially after paying nearly triple the cost of a regular season ticket, but here at the Lodge, we're all afraid that this might escalate into a nasty confrontation between the feds and the Federation du Lait Québecois. Next thing you know, senator-hopeful Don Cherry will put in his two-bit and, with his best smirk, call the Sabres co-captain Danny Brier. And that will be our cue to skip this loonie interlude.
Jean-Pierre Allard is a freelance writer who has been following the Expos/Senators for MVN since 2004. In addition, he has covered the Ottawa Senators since 2004-05 on MVNiTimes,
His work has also been published in the Washington Times, Ottawa Citizen, Ottawa Sun, Toronto Sun, Calgary Herald, Vancouver Province and Ottawa City Woman Magazine. As a sports historian, he has also appeared on Global TV, CBC Radio and SRC Radio.
Boy, let me tell you there's some mad scramble at the Lodge these days.
And it's got nothing to do with Darquise insisting on listening to Dean "SCRAMBLE" Brown and sidekick superfan Gord Wilson describing the Sennies games instead of Bob "Ole King" Cole and Greg S-Mitten on the state-sponsored CBC TV. That is when they even bother airing their COTU-infested broadcast for a full 60 minutes.
No, it's because Hortense and I just can't figure out the recent segments of Oaf's Corner during the first intermission. Now, even though we both lost our husbands in the M.A.S.H. war (or was it the Nixon conflict with the Kennedys?), and notwithstanding the fact that we're also not getting any younger, we can't remember exactly when it was that the in-between period segment of Hockey Night In Canada became a showcase for the Canadian Armed Forces. Like, what the fuddle duddle does that have anything to do with heavily armed bodies dropping like flies in the eternal pursuit of finding a hole in the enemy line?
Why is it a forum for Don Cherry to provide instant relief to all of Canada by making it sound that it's OK to be a racist and a bigot, as long as you're behind Harper's Army? We sure as heck never had to put up with such nonsense when Dave Hodge was the host of the show or even when Ward Cornell moderated the old Stovepipe League.
I'm afraid I've fallen off the wagon again and for this I have no one to blame but all those Senators' diehard fans -- and the ones that wear their sweaters too. To hear them speak on radio and at Mass, you'd think Ottawa has already won the Cup, when they're only halfway on their march toward merely getting their eyes on the prize.
While they only needed 10 easy games in stopping the March of the Baby Penguins and then doing some Clean Dancing With the Devilled Eggs, the Buffalo Herd is next on their battlefront and I have this huge fear Ottawa is about to find out that when you live by the sword, you also die by the sword. Or in this case, the Sabre.
Besides, I'm 1-1 in predictions so far, so I'm due to be right again, even if the Senators sure look for real this spring, especially with the way they swamped Jersey.
WASTIN' AWAY AGAIN IN JASON POMINVILLE
What worries me more today is the mindset of captain Daniel Alfredsson. I mean, this guy carried the entire team on his back the last two series and I can't thank him enough, nor can I shower him with more compliments than I already have without sounding like the Ottawa Citizen's giddy cheerleaders.
But if I read correctly what I just read today, Captain Alfie is still defending himself for his mistake last May 20 when he let a freaking rookie waltz around him and score the easiest, short-handed, series-clinching overtime goal that everyone at the Lodge has ever seen.
OK, so maybe the dumb local scribes keep asking the same dumb question but geez, even the dumbest IKEA cashier has enough smarts to give us a different story every time we politely inquire about the fat contents in them Swedish meatballs.
Get this, Alfie said he still wouldn't change a thing in his season-ending decision, because he much preferred risking being sent to the golf courses early than taking a hooking penalty which, by the way, would have only evened up the sides at that time.
Well, to a tee, we'd sleep much better knowing that he will whack wicked good any Sabres forward over the head if facing a similar situation in the next two weeks.
Hortense nearly made me spill my porridge when she yelled to all that if she hears that horsechips story one more time, she's gonna put up for sale all of her 73 Drew Stafford mint rookie cards on the eBay.
I agree and I also want to chime in and say that just because Jason Spezza took a faceoff late in a playoff game against the Penguins and won, and then followed that with a few more games in which he actually went back in his zone to see if his pal Ray Emery needed a wake-up call, doesn't automatically make him the next Bob Gainey.
Sure, the big pussycat is getting much better at playing without the puck but let's see how he does when the Alphabet Guys named Afinogenov, Brière, Connolly, Drury, Gaustad, Hecht, Kotalik, Pominville, Roy, Stafford, Vanek and Zubrus start tripping the puck fantastic.
And another thing we can't figure out.
While it would be perfectly acceptable for us ladies to be totally in love with the young and perpetually-smiling hunk, we're thinking it's rather odd to see grown reporters have such a giant man crush on a young man who was just a boy three years ago when Jack Martin was opening the bench door at the Corel Centre.
You'd think reading all the quotes that the beat writers get from Spezza every day that his team is called the Ottawa Spezzenators.
Finally, as if we needed another controversy, Jeanne D'Arc in room 3B was overheard saying she sure hopes that the Senators' fans don't start booing the Sabres' top player and Gatineau native Daniel Brière.
I mean, it's one thing to boo a kid that needs his mouth washed with Palmolive like the star of NBC's The Crosby Show, but it would be totally disgraceful to boo a father of four young kids, who was born here and would have given both his hands to play for John Muckler after Wayne Gretzky decided that Brière was too small for the pre-lockout days of the NHL, unless "99 flavours of whine" thought his last name sounded more like a curling term.
The fans have the right to do what they want, especially after paying nearly triple the cost of a regular season ticket, but here at the Lodge, we're all afraid that this might escalate into a nasty confrontation between the feds and the Federation du Lait Québecois. Next thing you know, senator-hopeful Don Cherry will put in his two-bit and, with his best smirk, call the Sabres co-captain Danny Brier. And that will be our cue to skip this loonie interlude.
Jean-Pierre Allard is a freelance writer who has been following the Expos/Senators for MVN since 2004. In addition, he has covered the Ottawa Senators since 2004-05 on MVNiTimes,
His work has also been published in the Washington Times, Ottawa Citizen, Ottawa Sun, Toronto Sun, Calgary Herald, Vancouver Province and Ottawa City Woman Magazine. As a sports historian, he has also appeared on Global TV, CBC Radio and SRC Radio.
LARRY MAVETY REMAINS UNAWARE THEY HAVE THE INTERNET ON COMPUTERS NOW
The Whig-Standard's sports staff did a bang-up job of letting Kingston Frontenacs GM-for-life Larry Mavety hoist himself by his own petard of obfuscation, misdirection and selective amnesia when it comes to apparently Boston University-bound draft pick Ethan Werek:
"They (the Werek family) never let the team know they were going to Boston," Mavety said. "We were told they've been talking to other schools, but that was the extent of it.
" 'I wasn't aware that he was committed to Boston.'
"According to Chris Heisenberg's 2008 Hockey Recruit Page, an Internet newsletter used by scouts to track prospects, Werek is listed as having confirmed with Boston the day of the draft."
D'oh! Big ups to Whig writer Erin Flegg.
Related:
Hockey pick may not report; Fronts' draft pick plans to play in U.S. (Erin Flegg, Kingston Whig-Standard)
Previous:
FireLarryMavety.com, amazingly, remains available (Mon., May 7)
"They (the Werek family) never let the team know they were going to Boston," Mavety said. "We were told they've been talking to other schools, but that was the extent of it.
" 'I wasn't aware that he was committed to Boston.'
"According to Chris Heisenberg's 2008 Hockey Recruit Page, an Internet newsletter used by scouts to track prospects, Werek is listed as having confirmed with Boston the day of the draft."
D'oh! Big ups to Whig writer Erin Flegg.
Related:
Hockey pick may not report; Fronts' draft pick plans to play in U.S. (Erin Flegg, Kingston Whig-Standard)
Previous:
FireLarryMavety.com, amazingly, remains available (Mon., May 7)
BLEEDING TRICOLOUR: GAELS WIDEOUT GOES WEST
Couple quick CIS notes on this Tuesday a.m. of no particular distinction:
- Queen's Golden Gaels wideout Rob Bagg, a graduate of Kingston's Frontenac Secondary, has signed with the CFL's Saskatchewan Roughriders, the Whig-Standard's Claude Scilley reports.
- Gaels men's volleyball coach Brenda Willis will coach Team Ontario's 21-and-under team this summer. Ottawa native Stu Hamilton, a libero for the Gaels, is on the roster.
- Carleton University has revamped its athletics website -- it's now goravens.ca. (Hate to be a bastard about this, but the web gals and guys left out the 'h' in schedule.)
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
PLAYOFFS? PLAYOFFS?! DAY 26
Red Wings 2 Sharks 0 (Detroit wins series 4-2): Somehow, it seems fitting that San Jose missed a goal when Joe Thornton dislodged the Detroit net right when one of his teammates seemed certain to beat Dominik Hasek.
Nicklas Lidström, not the Dominator, made the biggest save of the night for the Red Wings, sprawling to block Mike Grier's wrapround after Hasek mishandled the puck outside of his crease. So it goes for the Sharks.
Early prediction for the West final: Anaheim in 6. As for the East, too close to call. Buffalo has an edge in goal (Ryan Miller over Ray Emery) and secondary scoring, but the Senators have yet to turn in a stinky effort this spring, while the Sabres have stumbled through a couple of games. Ask again later today.
Nicklas Lidström, not the Dominator, made the biggest save of the night for the Red Wings, sprawling to block Mike Grier's wrapround after Hasek mishandled the puck outside of his crease. So it goes for the Sharks.
Early prediction for the West final: Anaheim in 6. As for the East, too close to call. Buffalo has an edge in goal (Ryan Miller over Ray Emery) and secondary scoring, but the Senators have yet to turn in a stinky effort this spring, while the Sabres have stumbled through a couple of games. Ask again later today.
Monday, May 07, 2007
LYNX: ONE OF THESE NIGHTS
Like some other visitors to Louisville, Ky., did at the Kentucky Derby last weekend, the Lynx got hammered tonight. The host Bats won 11-1 (boxscore, play-by-play).
Bats catcher Ryan Jorgensen octupled his RBI output tonight. He had driven in just one run on the season, but racked Rick Bauer for a three-run double and a grand-slam home run his first two times up for seven RBI on the night. He also doubled his season hit total from two to four, jacking his batting average all the way to .105.
In fairness to Bauer (who was pulled after giving up nine earnies across four innings), he might be suited more to the bullpen. This is his third start in Ottawa and he's yet to complete five innings. Canuck first baseman Joey Votto has reached base all four times up and scored on both of Jorgensen's long hits. Meantime, top pitching prospect Homer Bailey, meantime, is chucking three-hit ball.
By the way, you know what the Bats and Lynx have in common? One Homer. Just kidding, Lynx, everyone realizes nights like this are part of a long Triple-A season.
Factoid that at least I find interesting: Lynx pitcher Brian Mazone was allowed to pinch-hit for Bauer in the fifth, and why not? He had a hit last week in a game vs. Indianapolis.
Bats catcher Ryan Jorgensen octupled his RBI output tonight. He had driven in just one run on the season, but racked Rick Bauer for a three-run double and a grand-slam home run his first two times up for seven RBI on the night. He also doubled his season hit total from two to four, jacking his batting average all the way to .105.
In fairness to Bauer (who was pulled after giving up nine earnies across four innings), he might be suited more to the bullpen. This is his third start in Ottawa and he's yet to complete five innings. Canuck first baseman Joey Votto has reached base all four times up and scored on both of Jorgensen's long hits. Meantime, top pitching prospect Homer Bailey, meantime, is chucking three-hit ball.
By the way, you know what the Bats and Lynx have in common? One Homer. Just kidding, Lynx, everyone realizes nights like this are part of a long Triple-A season.
Factoid that at least I find interesting: Lynx pitcher Brian Mazone was allowed to pinch-hit for Bauer in the fifth, and why not? He had a hit last week in a game vs. Indianapolis.
FAMILY WEDDING BLOG...
Sister Trina Sager and brother-in-law Amer Murad have set up a blog for the lead-up to their wedding, which is Aug. 11 in Kingston.
Related:
Trina and Amer August 11, 2007
Related:
Trina and Amer August 11, 2007
FRANCE WILL HAVE TO BE THEIR HOME TEAM...
Hockey Canada just sent out a press release noting that the 16-team field for the 2008 World Championship in Halifax and Québec has been set.
This might already be known, but Canada will play the preliminary round and qualifying round in Halifax. Can't imagine why they wouldn't want to play those games in Québec.
This might already be known, but Canada will play the preliminary round and qualifying round in Halifax. Can't imagine why they wouldn't want to play those games in Québec.
WELL, REALLY, HIS PRODUCER IS THE PROBLEM...
Erin Nicks of The Universal Cynic pretty much has Pierre McGuire's patter down to a T.
FIRELARRYMAVETY.COM, AMAZINGLY, REMAINS AVAILABLE
This is a bit rich even by Kingston Frontenacs GM-for-life Larry Mavety's standards, so-called.Each year, plenty of 16-year-olds and their parents tell Ontario Hockey League teams that drafted them, "Thanks anyways, but he's going to play college hockey in the States." It happens to the Frontenacs almost every year. However, the case of centre Ethan Werek, whom the Frontenacs spent their first-round draft pick on Saturday, is exceptional.
Get this: Werek has already committed to a top NCAA program, Boston University, two years in advance. According to reports his father even co-owns a Provincial Junior A team which he can play for in the meantime -- and on Saturday, draft day, he was reportedly attending said team's rookie camp. His mother is a professor, which might speak to the value the Wereks put on education. Seems like someone in the Frontenacs hierarchy might have wanted to, you know, confirm that he wouldn't be coming, and draft another highly touted player.
Here's what the boy's father, Zeev Werek, told one publication:
"His dad, Zeev Werek, said the family told teams before the draft of its intentions. 'We had a lot of calls,” he said. "Ottawa, Owen Sound, Oshawa and others. We told them all the same thing; that Ethan was going to the NCAA. We’re 100-per-cent committed to Boston University.'
"The Frontenacs did not respond to messages immediately." -- yorkregion.com
Now here's the version from Planet Mavety. A paper we hold in great regard simply wrote what he said to make him look like what he is:
" 'Friday night we made sure everybody was on the same page,' said Mavety. 'Nobody changed. We probably talked four or five times with Werek and his father. They seemed happy to be coming here.' " -- Kingston Whig-Standard
The truth is in between those two statements, granted. However, from the Wereks' point of view, why wouldn't they want their son to play in his hometown, finish his last two years of high school with his friends and go to the States on a scholarship? There's no reason to doubt their sincerity. (With Mavety, I can think of at least one good reason to believe he's not the most sincere guy around.)
Now why couldn't the Frontenacs find that out, respect it and select another player, or wait to see if Werek would drop to the second round? It's really mind-boggling that did not happen when you consider that the team's director of player development and co-ordinator of the scouting staff, Dick Cherry, used to be a school principal. In his playing career, Cherry actually put hockey on hold a couple times to study toward a teaching career, which was unheard of among the hockey players of the 1960s. If this was an oversight, it doesn't square with the Mr. Cherry I know and still respect.
A shinny saviour who could lead Kingston to the promised land -- i.e., Round 2 of the playoffs -- probably wasn't going to be found with the ninth overall pick on Saturday. Still, there's a big difference between drafting a player who doesn't want to play major junior hockey and a player of comparable skill who actually does.
(UPDATE: Now Jordan Mayer, a Kingston native whom the Frontenacs passed over to draft Werek, is having second thoughts about travelling far from home to play for the Soo Greyhounds, the team who selected him. In other words, the Frontenacs helped mess up another team's draft, although it's strange it happens to the more outlying OHL teams.)
Fans have a reason to be fed up, and so do we, since we had to break a vow never to post on the Frontenacs after May 1 unless they were in the OHL final or the Memorial Cup. At the time, it seemed like a promise we'd never have to deliver on, like promising to buy your parents a house if you ever won the lottery.
Related:
First-round OHL draft pick won't report to Kingston (yorkregion.com, May 5)
Front pass on Mayer; Kingston makes Werek top pick (Kingston Whig-Standard)
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
The Glorious Guest Post: The Seminal Moment for Jon Miller
Hello, friends. My name is Ted, and you can primarily find my poorly-formated and supported arguments at this website. Occasionally, I do some work for Neate over here at Out of Left Field.Today, with Mr. Bonds now 11 home runs away from Hank Aaron, I thought it was time to investigate another aspect of baseball's central storyline this season: what it means for Jon Miller, the San Francisco Giants play-by-play man who fills similar duties for ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball.
Most sportcasters have a singular moment with which they are identified. In the case of someone like Al Michaels, regardless of all the classic MNF comebacks and NBA playoff battles he voiced over, it's always going to be "Do you believe in miracles?" For Marv Albert, it'd probably be something from a series involving the Bulls in the early 1990s - "A spectacular move by Michael Jordan!" comes to mind. Dick Stockon has Carlton Fisk's foul pole waving home run back when he was working for NBC Sports; Brent Musberger has almost every venerable college football moment of the past decade, most notably "You are looking live..." And, lest I forget my main man Gus Johnson, he has UCLA vs. Gonzaga from the 2006 Sweet 16.
Jon Miller is a little bit of a different study. You'd be hard pressed to find a baseball purist who won't tell you Miller is the best play-by-play guy out there; while he's called 9 World Series for ESPN Radio, perhaps the greatest shame of ESPN being a cable network is that Miller can't be the TV voice of the Series - that falls annually to Joe Buck. His dulcid tones and subtle interaction with whoever is in the booth are both absolutely masterful. You might get a couple of homers arguing for Don Orsillo, or Michael Kay, or Dave Niehaus (a Mariners guy). Fact is, most people - especially baseball people (and really, aren't we all in that category during the summer?) - are going to tell you no one beats Miller on a national scale.
Miller is a San Francisco guy. Sure, he left - he was the Orioles play-by-play man for their '83 World Series all the way through 1996. But he came back, becoming the primary Giants guy around the same time Bonds got there, bringing his career full circle from his old days calling the Warriors part-time ('79-'82) and the San Jose Earthquakes. That's one thing we've learned time and time again throughout history, by the way: heroes always go home. In the grand scheme of baseball announcers, Miller is a hero.
He got home, and as a result, he's been inextricably linked to Bonds for the last decade. Still though, most of Bonds' truly relevant moments tend to get picked up nationally, pushing Miller to the side a smidge. When he broke Ruth last year, he did it on FOX's Game of the Week - I think Thom Brennaman had that call. When he got to 73 in one year, the game he finally shattered McGwire, if I'm not mistaken, was Chris Berman nationally.
Now, with Bonds 11 back of eternal history, here comes Jon Miller's moment. Even if these games start getting picked up nationally every night when Bonds is five out - ESPN most nights, FOX on Saturdays - there's a good chance Miller would stay national, at least on the ESPN telecasts. Sure, Chris Berman is a revered figure over the past 25 years, but giving Miller this chance is too much to pass up. He knows the situation with Bonds in the Bay Area - where it started, what's happened since, and what it all means - so well that his call of No. 756 can't help but be legendary.
And you see, that's what Jon Miller deserves, for his own legacy. Twenty years down the road, every time a sports TV show or network or any other platform does one of those compilation programs of moments, and you absolutely have to see the coronation of Barry Bonds as the all-time home run king, well... hearing Miller's voice on it is going to be just perfect. There's really no one else that deserves that crack at baseball announcing immortality more than Miller. Far more than his subtle jabs at people's baserunning, this could be his true "Do you believe in miracles?!?" moment, the one six-word expression of joy and relevance that takes him into a new echelon of his own profession.
So, in the grand scheme of every debate that will rage about Bonds for the next six to eight weeks - Do black people want to see him succeed? Will Aaron and/or Selig visit? How relevant is this record in light of his potential transgressions? - just think of the other, more round man sitting 100 feet above the guy actually swinging the bat. For him, this might be just as important.
PLAYOFFS? PLAYOFFS?! DAY 26
Sabres 5 Rangers 4 (Buffalo wins series 4-2): Tough loss to take for the Rangers, who with a break here and there at worst would have been going to Buffalo for Game 7.
Brendan Shanahan, the man from Mimico, will have a long summer trying to forget an elimination game where he ended up minus-3. For the most part, the 38-year-old future Hall of Famer has been integral in restoring the Rangers to respectability, and considering the current lot of Madison Square Garden's other pro sports team, attention must be paid.
Brendan Shanahan, the man from Mimico, will have a long summer trying to forget an elimination game where he ended up minus-3. For the most part, the 38-year-old future Hall of Famer has been integral in restoring the Rangers to respectability, and considering the current lot of Madison Square Garden's other pro sports team, attention must be paid.
JAYS-RANGERS: GOING BANANAS; TIME TO JETTISON J.G.?
Sunday -- Rangers 3, Jays 2: It would come as no shock if J.P. Ricciardi gassed manager John Gibbons on Monday.Ricciardi needs to cover himself. The Red Sox are in town and the Jays need something to light a fire under a drab and futile team, so why not pull the pin? What's to lose? The Jays are failing already.
Of course, as the Western (Canada) philosopher Don MacGillivray once reflected, "Things are never as good as they seem when they're going good, and they're never as bad as they seem when they're going bad." Those seems like words to go by over the Long Season, so despite the Jays' historically bad road trip and their making Kameron Loe look like a competent American League starting pitcher, there are positives.
A.J. Burnett pitched well enough against a good lineup. Like Roy Halladay, there's times when he will throw strikes that get hit somewhere uncatchable, and the Rangers hit three solo homers. Like we said in the preview: "A couple fastballs left up in the zone against Mark Teixeira or Michael Young could equal a long day." Both of those Rangers homered.
Troy Glaus, meantime, has a .896 slugging average (11-for-29 with seven extra-base hits) in his first eight games since coming off the DL. There's the rub — only two guys are going for the Jays these days, three if you count Adam Lind, and 3 1/2 if you add Sal Fasano.
Meantime, it might be time to go shopping online for some Brewers gear.
Saturday -- Rangers 11, Jays 4: So much for taking comfort having Roy Halladay throwing, much like George Bluth Sr. took comfort in knowing there was always money in the banana stand. Josh Towers was actually more effective than Doc -- enough said.
The Jays' season seems headed for the same fate as the Bluth family's original banana stand -- which Michael and George Michael ended up burning down in a misunderstanding over semantics. (Don't ask.) What else would you expect with five regulars out of the lineup and Vernon Wells under the weather?
Incidentally, if you're going to ream Gibbons out, check out how the rotations are set up for the Red Sox series at The Cable Box next week: According to ESPN.com's pitching probables, Dustin McGowan, Victor Zambrano and Tomo Ohka (Friday's losing pitcher) are set to start vs. Josh Beckett, Dice-K and Tim Wakefield, the bad man with the knuckleball.
Words of wisdom regarding Gibbons from the invaluable The Tao of Stieb: "We love Gibby and value the job that he did through some tough times, but we have the feeling that he is a better manager for a group of lovable losers, than a team with playoff expectations."
Friday -- Rangers 7, Jays 1: Hey, it's not like the Rangers were throwing a guy who entered with a near-double-digit ERA (Brandon McCarthy). Oh, wait.
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
LYNX: SMOKIN' JOE
Lynx right-handed reliever Joe Bisenius ran his scoreless streak to 10 innings by striking out the side in the eighth inning vs. Rochester in today's 4-2 win (boxscore, play-by-play).
Weird game, this baseball: Zach Segovia, who got his first Triple-A win, had no strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings. Relievers Kane Davis, Bisenius and Brian Sanches (who got his fifth save) got eight of the final 10 outs via the K. Anyway, if Bisenius, 24, keeps this up, he might be in Philadelphia before the summer's through, especially if the Phillies are out of the playoff race.
The Lynx travel on to Louisville, where they'll get a return engagement with top pitching prospect Homer Bailey tomorrow night.
Weird game, this baseball: Zach Segovia, who got his first Triple-A win, had no strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings. Relievers Kane Davis, Bisenius and Brian Sanches (who got his fifth save) got eight of the final 10 outs via the K. Anyway, if Bisenius, 24, keeps this up, he might be in Philadelphia before the summer's through, especially if the Phillies are out of the playoff race.
The Lynx travel on to Louisville, where they'll get a return engagement with top pitching prospect Homer Bailey tomorrow night.
YOU CAN CARE ABOUT BASEBALL AGAIN...
Roger Clemens has signed with the pitching-hungry Yankees and will do his annual barnstorming tour through the minors, just like he did last season with the Astros. That would put him right on target to pitch on the first weekend of the June, the next time the Yankees visit the Red Sox.
That series includes a Sunday night game that ESPN is sure to hype to deaeth.
A modest proposal is that Clemens should forget about the Yankees. Instead, he could become a latter-day Satchel Paige. He can roam across North America in his customized Hummer, wearing a "Rocket Man" uniform and hiring himself out to the South Shore Railcats and Lansing Lugnuts of the baseball world. There's plenty of corners of the globe which have never been able to bask in his beneficient glow.
(Yes, we know sarcasm is the protest of the weak, but we also hate John Knowles.)
That series includes a Sunday night game that ESPN is sure to hype to deaeth.
A modest proposal is that Clemens should forget about the Yankees. Instead, he could become a latter-day Satchel Paige. He can roam across North America in his customized Hummer, wearing a "Rocket Man" uniform and hiring himself out to the South Shore Railcats and Lansing Lugnuts of the baseball world. There's plenty of corners of the globe which have never been able to bask in his beneficient glow.
(Yes, we know sarcasm is the protest of the weak, but we also hate John Knowles.)
ALLARD: ONWARD, OTTAWA...
Jean-Pierre Allard of Smarting Senators weighs in following the Senators' 3-2 series-clinching win over the Devils in Game 5 last night.
After seeing their team get outshot 11-3 and go the dressing room down 1-0 after one period, and then continuing to look sluggish for the first four minutes of the second, Senators fans could have been excused for thinking, "Oh boy, here we go again."
This is not your Senators of old.
This team, while continuing to happily ride the incredible output from its top line of Daniel Alfredsson, Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza, who teamed up for another six points, has slowly and surely started to get relief from its secondary players.
Tonight, just when the team looked lost and aimless, Antoine Vermette chimed in just past the four-minute mark of the second period, simply taking over the game in the Devils' offensive zone with some brilliant stick-handling. That culminated in him causing Richard Matvichuk to carelessly throw the puck away around the back of his net only to see a pinching Tom Preissing let go a shot at Martin Brodeur's net which Vermette tipped in to give the Senators some much needed life. (Say, maybe Vermette should be getting some time on the second power-play unit.)
That was the game and the series right then and there as the Devils never quite recovered. When Jay Pandolfo was sent off for goalie interference six minutes later, with Andrej Meszaros inexplicably escaping a similar sanction for his obvious retribution on the Devils' forward, Jason Spezza beat Brodeur with a nasty fluttering wrister to his left to put Ottawa ahead to stay.
That Spezza too had got away with a clear cross-check earlier was yet another sign that when a team is hot, everything goes their way, including non-calls from the officials.
Alfredsson's partially screened goal at 17.28 of the period, another soft goal against Brodeur, was a mere formality because by that time, there was no air left in New Jersey's big playoff balloon, so frustrated they were with their inability to mount any kind of pressure on Ottawa, especially during their inept power play which, really, was the difference in the series.
That, and the stark contrast between the two captains: a re-energized and healthy Alfie bent on proving his detractors wrong versus a clearly-hurting Patrick Elias, who was limited to one goal in the series and only two over his last 22 games, including the regular season.
Add to that an uncharacteristically shaky Brodeur at one end and steady play from Ray Emery at the other end and it's quite easy to see how Ottawa put Jersey away in five games.
The Devils pulled to within one when Scott Gomez scored his second of the night with 40 seconds left in the proceedings, but New Jersey never did threaten after that. It did appear that a Chris Phillips icing was not called which would have given the Devils a face-off in the Sens' zone with about 12 seconds left.
Devils coach-GM Lou Lamoriello didn't voice any kind of protest though, perhaps also resigned to accept the evidence. Namely that his team was simply not up to the task against a Senator team that continues to dumbfound the many experts, having needed only 10 games to eliminate Sid The Kid and Monsieur Brodeur, and is now the lone Canadian entry left in the NHL playoffs.
How soon before the Senators start receiving telegrams of good wishes from coast to coast, just like the Montreal Expos -- remember them? -- did at the height of their 1979 pennant race against the Pittsburgh Pirates when they became, for a time, Canada's team?
Or that someone starts chucking beaver tails on the pristine ice surface of Scotiabank Place?
Elsewhere (from Sager):
Red Wings 4 Sharks 1 (Detroit leads series 3-2): Time to coin a new phrase: Pulling a Luongo.
That's where a goalie who's carrying a team snaps all of a sudden and pulls a bantam house league goof in a big game. The Sharks' Evgeni Nabokov, who's been playing well all playoffs, made a killer error late in the second period of a 1-1 tie, botching a clearing attempt and passing the puck right to Pavel Datsyuk, who of course plays for Detroit.
The Sharks were dead in the water after that and came out for the third period only out of professional courtesy. Regardless, San Jose is good enough to win on home ice Monday and force The Decider back in Detroit.
Poolies who stocked up on Red Wings rejoiced: The Datsyuk-Henrik Zetterberg-Tomas Holmstrom line had eight points, while Joe Thornton and Jonathan Cheechoo were goose-egged. (What else is new?)
Jean-Pierre Allard is a freelance writer who has been following the Expos/Senators for MVN since 2004. In addition, he has covered the Ottawa Senators since 2004-05 on MVN and now will chronicle the 2007 Ottawa Lynx, the Philadelphia Phillies' Triple-A team.
His work has also been published in the Washington Times, Ottawa Citizen, Ottawa Sun, Toronto Sun, Calgary Herald, Vancouver Province and Ottawa City Woman Magazine. As a sports historian, he has also appeared on Global TV, CBC radio and SRC radio.
After seeing their team get outshot 11-3 and go the dressing room down 1-0 after one period, and then continuing to look sluggish for the first four minutes of the second, Senators fans could have been excused for thinking, "Oh boy, here we go again."
This is not your Senators of old.
This team, while continuing to happily ride the incredible output from its top line of Daniel Alfredsson, Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza, who teamed up for another six points, has slowly and surely started to get relief from its secondary players.
Tonight, just when the team looked lost and aimless, Antoine Vermette chimed in just past the four-minute mark of the second period, simply taking over the game in the Devils' offensive zone with some brilliant stick-handling. That culminated in him causing Richard Matvichuk to carelessly throw the puck away around the back of his net only to see a pinching Tom Preissing let go a shot at Martin Brodeur's net which Vermette tipped in to give the Senators some much needed life. (Say, maybe Vermette should be getting some time on the second power-play unit.)
That was the game and the series right then and there as the Devils never quite recovered. When Jay Pandolfo was sent off for goalie interference six minutes later, with Andrej Meszaros inexplicably escaping a similar sanction for his obvious retribution on the Devils' forward, Jason Spezza beat Brodeur with a nasty fluttering wrister to his left to put Ottawa ahead to stay.
That Spezza too had got away with a clear cross-check earlier was yet another sign that when a team is hot, everything goes their way, including non-calls from the officials.
Alfredsson's partially screened goal at 17.28 of the period, another soft goal against Brodeur, was a mere formality because by that time, there was no air left in New Jersey's big playoff balloon, so frustrated they were with their inability to mount any kind of pressure on Ottawa, especially during their inept power play which, really, was the difference in the series.
That, and the stark contrast between the two captains: a re-energized and healthy Alfie bent on proving his detractors wrong versus a clearly-hurting Patrick Elias, who was limited to one goal in the series and only two over his last 22 games, including the regular season.
Add to that an uncharacteristically shaky Brodeur at one end and steady play from Ray Emery at the other end and it's quite easy to see how Ottawa put Jersey away in five games.
The Devils pulled to within one when Scott Gomez scored his second of the night with 40 seconds left in the proceedings, but New Jersey never did threaten after that. It did appear that a Chris Phillips icing was not called which would have given the Devils a face-off in the Sens' zone with about 12 seconds left.
Devils coach-GM Lou Lamoriello didn't voice any kind of protest though, perhaps also resigned to accept the evidence. Namely that his team was simply not up to the task against a Senator team that continues to dumbfound the many experts, having needed only 10 games to eliminate Sid The Kid and Monsieur Brodeur, and is now the lone Canadian entry left in the NHL playoffs.
How soon before the Senators start receiving telegrams of good wishes from coast to coast, just like the Montreal Expos -- remember them? -- did at the height of their 1979 pennant race against the Pittsburgh Pirates when they became, for a time, Canada's team?
Or that someone starts chucking beaver tails on the pristine ice surface of Scotiabank Place?
Elsewhere (from Sager):
Red Wings 4 Sharks 1 (Detroit leads series 3-2): Time to coin a new phrase: Pulling a Luongo.
That's where a goalie who's carrying a team snaps all of a sudden and pulls a bantam house league goof in a big game. The Sharks' Evgeni Nabokov, who's been playing well all playoffs, made a killer error late in the second period of a 1-1 tie, botching a clearing attempt and passing the puck right to Pavel Datsyuk, who of course plays for Detroit.
The Sharks were dead in the water after that and came out for the third period only out of professional courtesy. Regardless, San Jose is good enough to win on home ice Monday and force The Decider back in Detroit.
Poolies who stocked up on Red Wings rejoiced: The Datsyuk-Henrik Zetterberg-Tomas Holmstrom line had eight points, while Joe Thornton and Jonathan Cheechoo were goose-egged. (What else is new?)
Jean-Pierre Allard is a freelance writer who has been following the Expos/Senators for MVN since 2004. In addition, he has covered the Ottawa Senators since 2004-05 on MVN and now will chronicle the 2007 Ottawa Lynx, the Philadelphia Phillies' Triple-A team.
His work has also been published in the Washington Times, Ottawa Citizen, Ottawa Sun, Toronto Sun, Calgary Herald, Vancouver Province and Ottawa City Woman Magazine. As a sports historian, he has also appeared on Global TV, CBC radio and SRC radio.
JAYS REELING IN THE YEARS...
Say this for the Jays, they're making team history -- lose today and it will be the first 0-6 road trip the team has had in 28 years.
Perhaps A.J. Burnett will be a stopper against the Texas Rangers, but what's the use? It's come to this: A team with an $85-million-plus payroll, a recent Cy Young Award winner (Roy Halladay), a three-time Gold Glove centre-fielder (Vernon Wells) and a designated hitter soon to hit his 500th career home run (Frank Thomas) is one loss from matching the dubious deed of the worst team in franchise history. That would be the 1979 Blue Jays, who probably weren't the inspiration for the Smashing Pumpkins song 1979, although their 109-loss campaign was far gloomier than anything Billy Corgan ever contemplated.
How bad was it in seventy-nine? Not only was My Sharona at the top of the charts when dawn broke on Sept. 3, Labour Day, but by then the third-year Jays were 24 1/2 games back. Not out of first place -- out of sixth place in the American League East.
The Jays were going nowhere -- which is to say they had to make a road trip to Baltimore and Cleveland. That had to be a ballplayer's least favourite road swing in those days. The Orioles were always good and Cleveland was an international punchline, even though it had been almost a decade since the Cuyahoga River was regularly catching fire.
Sept. 3 at Baltimore: The pitching matchups for this Labour Day doubleheader was for the orange-hued Birds, definitely. The Jays started Tom Underwood and Dave Lemanczyk (a combined 14-25 to that point) vs. Baltimore's Steve Stone and Mike Flanagan, who between them won the American League Cy Young Awards in '79 and '80.
Underwood was game, though, and pitched a beauty against the team who would go on to fall one victory short of winning the World Series. Each team scored a run in the third, then Underwood and Stone traded zeroes the rest of the afternoon.
Both retired after the 10th inning. Tippy Martinez (don't worry, he would never haunt Jays fans again) pitched a three-up, three-down 11th. The Jays hadn't had a runner advance past first base since the sixth, when pinch-runner Dave Stieb (!) was stranded at third base.
On came Tom Buskey -- the late, great Tom Buskey who'd called for manager Roy Hartsfield to be fired in the middle of a West Coast swing a few weeks earlier -- to pitch for Toronto in the bottom of the 11th. As Tom Cheek later recalled in a book, Buskey seemed to be swigging from something contained in a brown paper bag when he made this demand at poolside.
(In Hartsfield, the Jays had a Southern manager who was in his third full season and had become a lame duck. Sound familiar?)
The first Baltimore batter, Pat Kelly, singled, then Buskey threw the ball away on a sacrifice bunt to send the winning run all the way to third base. Eddie Murray got the winning hit moments later. Orioles 2, Jays 1
In the nightcap, the Orioles settled the issue early, knocking out Lemanczyk with four runs in the second inning to back Flanagan to his 20th win of season. Pat Kelly got the Orioles rolling with a homer. This rates a mention since it permits a segue to the time Kelly asked Orioles manager Earl Weaver, "Skip, when was the last time you prayed?" and Weaver shot back, "The last time I sent you up to pinch-hit." Orioles 5, Jays 1
Sept. 6 at Baltimore: For reasons lost to the sands of time, the teams didn't play again until Thursday. The announced crowd -- and remember, the Orioles were on the way to a pennant -- was 7,053. Good thing this was Baltimore, not Montreal -- Bud Selig would have tried to have the franchise relocated. Dennis Martínez hurled a five-hit shutout to beat Butch Edge, who didn't get out of the second inning. Orioles 5, Jays 0
Sept. 7 at Cleveland: A crowd, so to speak, of 4,222 showed up at Cleveland Municipal Stadium (which could hold more than 85,000) for the marquee pitching matchup between Toronto's Phil Huffman and the Tribe's Rick Waits. OK, Waits wasn't that bad -- he won 16 games that year -- but Huffman absorbed 18 losses in 1979, a record for a player who had only one full season in the majors. He seemed headed for Win No. 7 after the Jays busted out for a six-run fifth, capped by a grand slam home run from The Beeg Mon, Rico Carty (our Retro Cool Brave). After tacking on two more in the sixth, the Jays led 8-0 and were in danger of winning.
Up 8-3 in the ninth, Hartsfield sent Huffman out to try for a complete game. Toby Harrah led off with a homer and soon enough the tying run was at the plate with none out. Have no fear -- Tom Buskey to the rescue. He whiffed Gary Alexander -- don't look so impressed; the year before, Alexander fanned a major league-high 166 times -- for the first out, but gave up two RBI singles to cut the margin to 8-7. Then John Mayberry committed the Jays' second error of the inning, tying the game and putting the winning run at second base.
Buskey gave up another hit, but Jays left-fielder J.J. Cannon threw Mike Hargrove out at the plate. That bought the Jays about another 30 seconds. Harrah came to bat for the second time in the inning and singled in the winning run. Cleveland 9, Jays 8
Sept. 8 at Cleveland: The Jays forged ahead 4-3 in the seventh when Tim Johnson -- yes, that Tim Johnson -- hit a game-tying triple and scored on a sac fly.
(Pictured, right: Two movie characters who were definitely not based on Tim Johnson.)
Dave Stieb was pitching, and today, he'd be pulled for a reliever with a one-run lead in the middle in the seventh. This was a different time. Bell bottoms were in and so was pitchers throwing nine innings, even when he was a 21-year-old rookie who had played centre-field in college.
Stieb went back out and the Indians promptly tied the game. He was still pitching in a tie game in the ninth when Mike Hargrove, the current Mariners manager, coaxed a leadoff walk. Before you could say, "Let's get Buskey up," Rick Manning singled and Alfredo Griffin threw the ball away after taking the throw from the outfield, allowing Hargrove to score after starting the play at first base. Cleveland 5, Jays 4
Sept. 9 at Cleveland: The Jays knocked Len Barker out in the third inning, taking a 6-1 lead. However, starting pitcher Balor Moore fell apart like an Alberto Gonzales alibi in the fourth, walking four straight batters as Cleveland scored five runs to tie it 6-6. On the day, the Jays ended up walking 14 batters -- which is almost as many free passes as the Indians probably gave out to get a crowd of 9,166 for the Sunday afternoon game.
By the eighth, it was 9-6, but the '79 Blue Jays weren't quitters. Helped by two errors by Cleveland right-fielder Ted Pruitt, they struck for four runs and went back on top, 10-9.
Buskey Time.
Ted survived the eighth, leaving the tying run at third. In the ninth, Ron Hassey led off with a pinch-hit single, and eventually Hargrove got a single to tie the game at 10. With one out and first base open, Rick Manning (you all remember Rick; he was the guy who stole his teammate Dennis Eckersley's wife) was intentionally walked to load the bases, meaning Bobby Bonds (pictured, right) got a chance to pad his RBI total when he hammered a walk-off grand-slam moments later. Cleveland 14, Jays 10
So you see? It can always get worse for the Jays. By the way, look at how times have changed. Barry Bonds is despised today for being a drug cheat, but three decades ago they put his daddy on a magazine cover with the word "dope" actually in the headline. Yes, we were really born 25-30 years too late.
Big ups to Retrosheet.
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
Perhaps A.J. Burnett will be a stopper against the Texas Rangers, but what's the use? It's come to this: A team with an $85-million-plus payroll, a recent Cy Young Award winner (Roy Halladay), a three-time Gold Glove centre-fielder (Vernon Wells) and a designated hitter soon to hit his 500th career home run (Frank Thomas) is one loss from matching the dubious deed of the worst team in franchise history. That would be the 1979 Blue Jays, who probably weren't the inspiration for the Smashing Pumpkins song 1979, although their 109-loss campaign was far gloomier than anything Billy Corgan ever contemplated.
How bad was it in seventy-nine? Not only was My Sharona at the top of the charts when dawn broke on Sept. 3, Labour Day, but by then the third-year Jays were 24 1/2 games back. Not out of first place -- out of sixth place in the American League East.The Jays were going nowhere -- which is to say they had to make a road trip to Baltimore and Cleveland. That had to be a ballplayer's least favourite road swing in those days. The Orioles were always good and Cleveland was an international punchline, even though it had been almost a decade since the Cuyahoga River was regularly catching fire.
Sept. 3 at Baltimore: The pitching matchups for this Labour Day doubleheader was for the orange-hued Birds, definitely. The Jays started Tom Underwood and Dave Lemanczyk (a combined 14-25 to that point) vs. Baltimore's Steve Stone and Mike Flanagan, who between them won the American League Cy Young Awards in '79 and '80.
Underwood was game, though, and pitched a beauty against the team who would go on to fall one victory short of winning the World Series. Each team scored a run in the third, then Underwood and Stone traded zeroes the rest of the afternoon.
Both retired after the 10th inning. Tippy Martinez (don't worry, he would never haunt Jays fans again) pitched a three-up, three-down 11th. The Jays hadn't had a runner advance past first base since the sixth, when pinch-runner Dave Stieb (!) was stranded at third base.
On came Tom Buskey -- the late, great Tom Buskey who'd called for manager Roy Hartsfield to be fired in the middle of a West Coast swing a few weeks earlier -- to pitch for Toronto in the bottom of the 11th. As Tom Cheek later recalled in a book, Buskey seemed to be swigging from something contained in a brown paper bag when he made this demand at poolside.(In Hartsfield, the Jays had a Southern manager who was in his third full season and had become a lame duck. Sound familiar?)
The first Baltimore batter, Pat Kelly, singled, then Buskey threw the ball away on a sacrifice bunt to send the winning run all the way to third base. Eddie Murray got the winning hit moments later. Orioles 2, Jays 1
In the nightcap, the Orioles settled the issue early, knocking out Lemanczyk with four runs in the second inning to back Flanagan to his 20th win of season. Pat Kelly got the Orioles rolling with a homer. This rates a mention since it permits a segue to the time Kelly asked Orioles manager Earl Weaver, "Skip, when was the last time you prayed?" and Weaver shot back, "The last time I sent you up to pinch-hit." Orioles 5, Jays 1
Sept. 6 at Baltimore: For reasons lost to the sands of time, the teams didn't play again until Thursday. The announced crowd -- and remember, the Orioles were on the way to a pennant -- was 7,053. Good thing this was Baltimore, not Montreal -- Bud Selig would have tried to have the franchise relocated. Dennis Martínez hurled a five-hit shutout to beat Butch Edge, who didn't get out of the second inning. Orioles 5, Jays 0
Sept. 7 at Cleveland: A crowd, so to speak, of 4,222 showed up at Cleveland Municipal Stadium (which could hold more than 85,000) for the marquee pitching matchup between Toronto's Phil Huffman and the Tribe's Rick Waits. OK, Waits wasn't that bad -- he won 16 games that year -- but Huffman absorbed 18 losses in 1979, a record for a player who had only one full season in the majors. He seemed headed for Win No. 7 after the Jays busted out for a six-run fifth, capped by a grand slam home run from The Beeg Mon, Rico Carty (our Retro Cool Brave). After tacking on two more in the sixth, the Jays led 8-0 and were in danger of winning.
Up 8-3 in the ninth, Hartsfield sent Huffman out to try for a complete game. Toby Harrah led off with a homer and soon enough the tying run was at the plate with none out. Have no fear -- Tom Buskey to the rescue. He whiffed Gary Alexander -- don't look so impressed; the year before, Alexander fanned a major league-high 166 times -- for the first out, but gave up two RBI singles to cut the margin to 8-7. Then John Mayberry committed the Jays' second error of the inning, tying the game and putting the winning run at second base.
Buskey gave up another hit, but Jays left-fielder J.J. Cannon threw Mike Hargrove out at the plate. That bought the Jays about another 30 seconds. Harrah came to bat for the second time in the inning and singled in the winning run. Cleveland 9, Jays 8
Sept. 8 at Cleveland: The Jays forged ahead 4-3 in the seventh when Tim Johnson -- yes, that Tim Johnson -- hit a game-tying triple and scored on a sac fly.(Pictured, right: Two movie characters who were definitely not based on Tim Johnson.)
Dave Stieb was pitching, and today, he'd be pulled for a reliever with a one-run lead in the middle in the seventh. This was a different time. Bell bottoms were in and so was pitchers throwing nine innings, even when he was a 21-year-old rookie who had played centre-field in college.
Stieb went back out and the Indians promptly tied the game. He was still pitching in a tie game in the ninth when Mike Hargrove, the current Mariners manager, coaxed a leadoff walk. Before you could say, "Let's get Buskey up," Rick Manning singled and Alfredo Griffin threw the ball away after taking the throw from the outfield, allowing Hargrove to score after starting the play at first base. Cleveland 5, Jays 4
Sept. 9 at Cleveland: The Jays knocked Len Barker out in the third inning, taking a 6-1 lead. However, starting pitcher Balor Moore fell apart like an Alberto Gonzales alibi in the fourth, walking four straight batters as Cleveland scored five runs to tie it 6-6. On the day, the Jays ended up walking 14 batters -- which is almost as many free passes as the Indians probably gave out to get a crowd of 9,166 for the Sunday afternoon game.
By the eighth, it was 9-6, but the '79 Blue Jays weren't quitters. Helped by two errors by Cleveland right-fielder Ted Pruitt, they struck for four runs and went back on top, 10-9.Buskey Time.
Ted survived the eighth, leaving the tying run at third. In the ninth, Ron Hassey led off with a pinch-hit single, and eventually Hargrove got a single to tie the game at 10. With one out and first base open, Rick Manning (you all remember Rick; he was the guy who stole his teammate Dennis Eckersley's wife) was intentionally walked to load the bases, meaning Bobby Bonds (pictured, right) got a chance to pad his RBI total when he hammered a walk-off grand-slam moments later. Cleveland 14, Jays 10
So you see? It can always get worse for the Jays. By the way, look at how times have changed. Barry Bonds is despised today for being a drug cheat, but three decades ago they put his daddy on a magazine cover with the word "dope" actually in the headline. Yes, we were really born 25-30 years too late.
Big ups to Retrosheet.
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
